News - Friday, December 21, 2012

Christmas at the Courthouse continued on Tuesday, December 11 with the Soddy Elementary School Choir, under the direction of Ellen Leamon, and the Ooltewah Middle School Chorus, under the direction of Sarah Allen, honoring City and Session Court judges with charming renditions of holiday favorites. Those honored included City Court Judges Sherry Paty and Russell Bean, City Court Clerk Jan Turner, and Sessions Court Judges Christine Mahn Sell, David Bales, Clarence Shattuck, and Gary Starnes. Pictured: Judge Bales expresses his appreciation to the Ooltewah Middle School Chorus. (David Laprad)

For the second consecutive year, Chambliss & Bahner has been ranked on the BTI Client Service A-Team. This list highlights law firms clients say provide superior service.

BTI says its Client Service A-Team is based on independent, unbiased feedback from clients.  The 2013 analysis relied on more than 240 independent, one-on-one interviews with corporate counsel to delineate – by name and rank – how more than 332 law firms perform along 17 activities shown to drive client relationships.

Dear EarthTalk:

What are the Growing Green Awards? 

~ Allen Sherwood, Denver, Colo.

The Growing Green Awards is a program of the non-profit Natural Resources Defense Council that recognizes and gives exposure to individuals across the United States who have demonstrated original leadership in the field of sustainable food. Each year, the NRDC gives out the awards to those making extraordinary contributions advancing ecologically-integrated farming practices, climate stewardship, water stewardship, farmland preservation, and social responsibility “from farm to fork.”

A lot has happened over the last few weeks. A lot of tension in the world, a lot of sadness. That means there is a lot to write about. In past years, I have centered my end of the year columns on topics like the promises I was making to myself for the next year and the problems I was having with deciding on Christmas gifts. I first considered the topic of gun control and the cost that guns put upon our society. Then I came upon a statistic showing that smoking kills 10 times as many people in the United States as guns do, not to mention an additional 3,000 or so that also die each year from second hand smoke.

My understanding of Christmas tree lights, in a word, is nada, zilch, nil. Okay, so that’s three words. I plug in a strand. If the bulbs light up, we’re good. If they don’t, I’m lost.

My main task during the Yule season is stringing white lights in the yard. From year to year, I test each of several strands. I keep several not-yet-opened packages to replace any strand that does not work.

There’s a lot of truth to the old adage “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.”  Recent research shows that reaching for a juicy apple benefits your body with quite a healthy dose of disease prevention. 

Along with many other nutritional components, apples contain quercetin, a flavonoid antioxidant that protects cells against wear and tear that can contribute to chronic conditions such as heart disease and cancer. But don’t peel them - most of the quercetin is found in the skin, so just wash well and eat them whole. 

This year will be our first Christmas in Chattanooga. We decided to throw ourselves into the holiday spirit by exploring how Chattanooga celebrates Christmas.

We started with the Starlight Parade downtown on the 8th. The number of smiling children both in the parade and watching it gave the whole experience the kind of magic one expects at Christmas time.

The men I had hired to cut down the dead pine tree in my back yard went right to the task. After snagging my terrier, Gus, I went back to blowing leaves in the front yard so I wouldn’t have to see or hear any disasters that I felt were imminent with this crew.

Parties! Parties! Parties! Once we get close to the end of November, it seems like the parties, dinners, and get-togethers are non-stop. When you add on birthdays, showers, and weddings, most every weekend and evening is taken until after the celebration of the New Year.

The Greater Chattanooga Association of Realtors, the Multiple Listing Service, and the Northwest Georgia Council of Realtors during their annual installation of newly elected officers and directors at the GCAR office on Amnicola Highway gave a fond send-off to its outgoing officers and directors and welcomed new officers and directors. Pictured: The 2013 GCAR Officers and Directors, including (L-R) Director Fidel Fonseca, Director Byron Kelly, Director George Kammerer, Director Raymond Warren, President-Elect Vicki Trapp, Director Nathan Walldorf, Secretary-Treasurer Robert Fisher, Director Pam Duffy, President Mark Blazek, Director Brenda Pargeon, Director Teresa Hogg and Immediate Past President Mark Hite. Not pictured: Directors Mary Carlson, Travis Close, Steve Hunt, Brandi Pearl Thompson and Sabrena Turner. (David Laprad)

The evening of Thursday, December 13 was a night for Realtor Lois Killebrew to remember. Not only did the owner of Mountain City Realtors on Signal Mountain receive Realtor Emeritus Status from the National Association of Realtors in recognition of her 40 years as a Realtor, the Greater Chattanooga Association of Realtors named her as the first recipient of its George Kangles Community Citizenship Award.

How is New Year’s Day celebrated around the world? Here’s a fun trivia game that will help you find out! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

1. Ecuador has a unique New Year’s Eve tradition: the burning of “old years” in public places. What are they? Bonfires; old clothes; newspapers and magazines from the previous year; effigies representing people and events from the previous year.

The first time I watched “The Hobbit,” I didn’t like it. I thought it was a long, tedious slog through Middle Earth, a nearly three-hour opus across which maybe half of a 300-page novel had been stretched like a thin membrane, straining to remain intact. Scenes that could have taken only a few minute were drawn out beyond a reasonable point, characters sat around having long, boring expository conversations, and there was no economy of storytelling.

What does a leader look like, sound like and do? There is no one correct mold. Great leaders come in all shapes, sizes, voices and styles. However, great leaders share a common outcome – they oversee getting important things done!

While leadership is hard to define, you know it when you see it, feel it, and hear it. An effective leader creates clarity about where the business is headed and how each team member can contribute to the cause. Such clarity helps reduce confusion and wasted actions and energy. Clarity also helps your employees to make better decisions within established boundaries. As a result, you can breathe more and supervise less. 

Saturday, December 22

Architect Mario Bianculli exhibited and discussed drawings of the modernistic Lovell Field to-be in the office of Mayor Olgiati. Commissioner of Public Works Bender reported that the $3 million expansion project is scheduled for completion in 1963. “When this expansion is completed,” said Olgiati, “Chattanooga will have one of the finest airports in the South.”

Saturday, December 21

A son was born to Mr. and Mrs. Sammy Gatis of 314 Whiteside Street.

A son was born to Mr. and Mrs. L.L. Kennedy of 116 Payne Street.

Bonds totaling $15,636.44 were signed yesterday by Auditor Beaver and Mayor Thompson. The bonds have been issued for paving district No. 1, Chamberlain Avenue, and paving district No. 66, Palmetto Street between Vine and Harrison Avenue. The paving completed for the year by the present administration was left by the old board. The work now being done is with the idea of making all the streets connecting links by paving the cross streets that heretofore have been a mud bed.